This invention relates to methods for making tobacco products, and in particular, to methods for making reconstituted tobacco products under conditions of relatively low moisture levels.
When tobacco leaf is processed for use in smoking products and when tobacco products are manufactured, a substantial amount of scrap or waste tobacco is provided. Scrap or waste tobacco can be in the form of tobacco dust (typical particle size is less than about 60 Tyler mesh), tobacco fines (typical particle size is between about 20 Tyler mesh and about 60 Tyler mesh), tobacco stems, or processed tobacco which remains unused after tobacco product manufacture is interrupted or completed. As scrap or waste tobacco frequently is of high quality, it is highly desirable to reclaim or reconstitute such scrap or waste tobacco. For example, it is desirable to provide reclaimed or reconstituted tobacco in sheet form, and to blend the reclaimed or reconstituted tobacco with tobacco leaf in order to provide cut filler. The resulting cut filler is used in the manufacture of cigarettes.
Various methods for providing reclaimed, reformed, reassembled or reconstituted tobacco are known. For example, tobacco materials can be mixed with relatively large amounts of water, processed, and dried. U.S. Pat. No. 1,068,403 discloses a process for the production of so-called artificial tobacco leaves by which tobacco veins are mixed with water in order to form a pulp, and the pulped veins are further processed. However, the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,068,403 requires the use of relatively large amounts of water and undesirable subsequent drying steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,259, discloses another method for reclaiming tobacco fragments or tobacco fines. For example, tobacco material is ground to a 15 very small size using a hammer mill or ball mill; the ground tobacco is moistened or mixed with a binder; and filamentary shreds are press formed or molded by passing the resulting mixture between a smooth surface roller and a grooved roller. However, the disclosed method requires the use of relatively large amounts of moisture, especially when a binder is not employed.
As there is a need for a process for regenerating tobacco waste products, it would be highly desirable to provide an efficient and effective process for providing reclaimed tobacco in the form of a sheet. In particular, it is desirable to provide reclaimed tobacco using a process which requires neither the use of a relatively large amount of water and post drying of product nor the pre-grinding of tobacco material.